Bill 279.

Summary.

The bill amends Article 196 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Panama (Código Penal de la Republica de Panamá), which concerns offenses against honor. The proposed provision states that a public retraction excludes criminal liability when the injured party consents to it. This rule applies to retraction in offenses against honor and retains the injured party’s consent as its condition. Article 1 also introduces a specific rule for certain persons who are alleged to have been injured by the conduct described in the preceding articles of the Criminal Code.

In those circumstances, the bill provides that no criminal penalty will be imposed if the alleged injured party is a public official referred to in Article 304 of the Political Constitution (Constitución Política), an elected official, or a governor. The provision links that consequence to the conduct against honor described in the preceding articles. It therefore identifies the persons concerned by their office or by the manner in which they hold office and establishes a specific rule governing the imposition of a criminal penalty. The reference to Article 304 identifies the group of public officials covered by that portion of the proposed provision.

Article 1 makes the absence of a criminal penalty conditional on the offense against the honor of a natural person, in any of its forms, not harming the personal, family, and private life of the public official referred to in Article 304 of the Political Constitution. The proposed wording thus distinguishes conduct involving those public officials from conduct affecting the personal, family, and private sphere specified in the article. It also states that the rule concerning the criminal penalty does not exclude civil liability arising from the act. The proposed article expressly addresses that possible civil consequence alongside the change to the criminal consequence.

Article 2 identifies the amendment as a change to Article 196 of Law No. 14 of 2007 (Ley No. 14 de 2007), which adopts the Criminal Code of the Republic of Panama (Código Penal de la República de Panamá). Article 3 provides that the proposed law would take effect upon its promulgation. The bill concerns the Political Constitution, the Criminal Code, and Law No. 14 of 2007. Its provisions could be of interest to or affect the public officials covered by Article 304, elected officials, governors, and people involved in offenses against honor, in relation to both criminal penalties and civil liability arising from the act.